People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan

The People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) was a communist political party in Afghanistan that existed from 1965 to 1992. The PDPA was founded by Nur Muhammad Taraki and Babrak Karmal, and the party helped former Prime Minister Mohammed Daoud Khan with overthrowing King Mohammed Zahir Shah in the 17 July 1973 Saur Revolution while it was a minority in politics. Daoud would establish a secular single-party state with the National Revolutionary Party of Afghanistan as the sole political party, and he fired PDPA politicians from top positions due to his opposition to communism. In 1978, the PDPA overthrew Daoud and his dictatorship and established the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan in its place. The PDPA suffered from internal divisions, with the radical Khalq faction under Hafizullah Amin being overthrown in 1979 and replaced with the Parcham faction. The Soviet Union occupied Afghanistan when the anti-communist Mujahideen rose up against the PDPA government, leading to the Soviet-Afghan War of 1979-1989. The PDPA relied on Soviet support until the Soviet Army's withdrawal in 1989, and the PDPA would manage to fend for itself until 1992, when Gulbuddin Hekmaytar's Mujahideen forces entered Kabul. The Watan Party of Afghanistan and the National Islamic Movement of Afghanistan succeeded the PDPA.